Potholes
Welcome to the Solihull Council report a pothole web page. This page contains useful information about potholes and how to report them.
As the Highway Authority, we have responsibility for the maintenance and repair of roads.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a Pothole?
- Intervention Levels
- Commonly Used Treatments
- Highways Inspections
- Claims for Damage
- How do I Report a Pothole?
- How Quickly will the Pothole be Repaired?
What is a Pothole?
A ‘pothole’ is a defect in the surface of a road or footpath where part of the material has fallen away, leaving a hole.
Most potholes are caused by wear and tear of the road surface. Continued traffic flow breaks down the surface and the area begins to crack. The surface between these cracks expands and material begins to fall away and a pothole is formed. Potholes normally increase during wet and cold weather as the bond between the surfaces breaks down more easily by extreme weather conditions.
Intervention Levels
The national guideline for potholes is 20mm deep in the footway (The diameter of one penny coin is equivalent to 20mm) and 40mm deep in the carriageway, with a width of 200mm (roughly the size of a dinner plate).
Commonly Used Treatments
Pot Hole/Patch
Minor repairs to roads and pavements are often in the region of 1 to 3 square metres in size and normally in the surface layer.
Surface Dressing
A machine laid material; a binder is applied to the surface to seal the road and a layer of stone chippings is applied to create the skidding and ride properties.
Micro Asphalt
A cold machine-laid road material with thickness between 6 and 15 millimetres, it is laid in two layers with the first layer, levelling the surface, fills the potholes and seals the surface, the second layer provides the ride quality and the skid resisting qualities.
Micro Seal
A cold hand-laid material up to 10 millimetres in thickness on footways; it is laid in one layer which levels and seals the surface.
Re-surfacing
Where the road surface, due to age, is starting to crack and craze with larger areas, the existing surface is removed and replaced with a new layer of Macadam or Asphalt.
Reconstruction
The road is reconstructed when the works mentioned previously would not be enough to repair the road.
Highways Inspections
Solihull Council’s Neighbourhood Co-ordinators carry out statutory inspections of the highway network in accordance with the Well Maintained Highways (Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Managetement).
We continually review this and also carry out risk assessments that help us determine how often we inspect our roads and pavements.
This approach has resulted in Solihull having some of the best maintained highways in the West Midlands.
Claims for Damage
Occasionally, users of the highway can sustain damage after encountering a pothole. You may feel that you wish to make a claim for the cost of the repairs etc.
We receive a number of claims from highway users for damage, however only 15% of these are likely to succeed.
This is because we have a good system of inspection and maintenance and the likely reason the defect was still in the road was because we didn’t know about it and could not repair it as it had not been reported or was not there on the last inspection.
This usually means we are able to defend a claim based on Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980. If you still wish to make your claim then you can do so by contacting the insurance team at insurance@solihull.gov.uk.
You will need to provide the following information for us to set your claim up and commence an investigation;
- Date and time of the incident
- Location (please be as specific as possible and enclose a map so we can pinpoint the defect)
- Description of damage and costs incurred (copies of receipts and invoices)
- Photographs of the defect and / or damage.
Once we have your claim we will investigate it and pass it to claims handlers who work on our behalf. The investigation could take up to three months but it is often concluded sooner.
Any compensation that is paid is paid directly from the Council budget. We do not have insurance for these types of claims.
How do I Report a Pothole?
Use the Report a Pothole form.
Or contact our Neighbourhood Management Team:
Telephone: 0121 704 6834
Email:
For Bickenhill, Kingshurst and Fordbridge, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood and Smithswood. Email: neighbourhoodmanagementarea1@solihull.gov.uk
For Elmdon, Lyndon, Olton, Silhill, St Alphege and Shirley East/West/South. Email: neighbourhoodmanagementarea2@solihull.gov.uk
For Blythe, Dorridge and Hockley Heath, Knowle and Meriden. Email: neighbourhoodmanagementarea3@solihull.gov.uk
Not sure which ward the pothole is in? Try our ward search.
How Quickly will the Pothole be Repaired?
We will look at the pothole and decide the risk it poses to road users. This is difficult to judge since all potholes present some risk. The factors to be taken into account include size and depth of pothole; traffic type, speed and volume; road alignment and visibility and also the position in relation to road width.